Contrary to expectations, May in Italy saw a halt and then a further decline in ferrous scrap prices. This is what emerges from a press release by Assofermet, the association representing Italian distributors of scrap, raw materials, and steel products.
Steel mills have reported discontinuous and reduced trade, "hiccup" production, and traders have also reported irregular supplies. The overall decrease recorded in May was about €80/mt.
"Sentiment for these first days of June is still very uncertain, although there is hope that the end of the decline has been reached," Assofermet said, adding, "Also, strong import of scrap from non-EU countries has been reported since the beginning of the year."
Declines also occurred in the international scrap market in May, in the range of $40/mt, due to weak demand.
"Turkey was no exception, where the descent stopped in the latter part of the month, recording a slight recovery in quotations (around $10-15/mt)," the association said. It went on to comment, "In the main European markets, demand for scrap was sluggish: however, the development in the latter part of the month seen in Turkey was reflected for the moment only with an increasing wait-and-see attitude on the part of operators on our continent."
In the stainless scrap segment, the first two weeks of May saw a downward trend, only to stabilize overall in the second half. However, the decline in prices seems not to have been accompanied by increased scrap availability.
There was an almost total disinterest in pig iron on the part of steel mills, and there remains an important difference between the price offered and the price desired by buyers. As for hematite pig iron, however, the slight slowdown in April was consolidated in May during which there was a decrease in volumes sold and a slight retreat in prices, according to Assofermet’s statement.